This disclosure relates to a composite fan containment case for a gas turbine engine.
One type of gas turbine engine incorporates a fan section at an inlet to the engine. The fan section includes a fan with fan blades surrounded by a fan case, which is surrounded by a fan nacelle. During operation, the engine may ingest foreign objects, such as a bird, which may cause portions of one or more fan blades to fracture and separate from the fan. The fan case is designed to contain the separated fan blade portions and prevent the portions from exiting the fan nacelle or being ingested further downstream in the engine.
A typical fan containment case is constructed from a metallic inner liner that is in close proximity to the tips of the fan blades. The metallic inner liner may be surrounded by a KEVLAR belt, which stretches to contain separated fan blade portions that penetrate the metallic inner liner. In applications where the fan section is relatively large, fan containment cases that use metallic inner liners are relatively heavy.